The Solar Panel Assembly

Spitzer's Solar Panel Assembly is designed to provide the
electrical power needed to operate the Observatory. It is made up of two solar
panels, each of which has 392 solar cells. Each solar cell measures 5.5 cm by
6.5 cm, and together they convert the Sun's radiation into a total of 427 Watts
of electrical energy - about a quarter of the power used in a hair blow dryer.
In order to keep enough sunlight on the solar panels, Spitzer cannot point
further than 120 degrees away from the Sun.

Each of the solar panels has half of the total area covered
in solar cells and half the area covered with optical reflectors. This reflects
away enough sunlight to keep the solar panels from getting too hot. The average
temperature is about 330 degrees Kelvin (approximately 134 degrees Fahrenheit,
or 57 degrees Celsius). The wedge-shaped Solar Panel Assembly is angled away
from the Outer Shell to point it more directly towards the Sun, and to minimize
the heat transferred to the Cryogenic Telescope Assembly.

The Spitzer Space Telescope is a NASA mission managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This website is maintained by the Spitzer Science Center, located at IPAC on the campus of the California Institute of Technology.